


Resolutions

by LadyStardust



Series: Apartment-verse [5]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Apartment-verse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, New Year's Eve, one overdramatic speech at a time, the wooing of Sarah Williams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 04:29:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13206000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyStardust/pseuds/LadyStardust
Summary: In which Sarah needs Jareth to pretend to be her boyfriend at her company New Year's Eve party.





	Resolutions

_"And as for what it takes_   
_To make it through another holiday_   
_For the rest of your New Year's Eves I'm free"_

**_\- Greg Laswell "New Year's Eves"_ **

* * *

Sarah cringed looking at her mirror. She didn't want to have to do this. She really  _really_  didn't want to have to do this. But she was out of options and so here she was, doing it.

"Jareth, I fucked up. I'm completely willing to admit I fucked up, but that doesn't change the fact that the fuck up is here and I need your help with it."

With an unnecessary amount of glitter the Goblin King stepped through her mirror and into her kitchen.

Jareth gave a deep bow, "Well now I'm just curious. What has got you so twisted and spun?"

Sarah was pretty sure she was going to throw up she was that sick about it.

"Okay, I'm just going to say this all at once because then it's done and I don't have to say it again. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend. Now first, shut up, whatever you're going to say I do not want to hear it."

"Pretend to be your – your  _boyfriend_  Sarah?" Jareth asked and Sarah thought he appeared genuinely confused. Ah well, at least he wasn't teasing her yet.

"It's…complicated. But it is entirely my fault. I've been avoiding this for months but I'm pretty sure I'm at the end of my rope now.

When I started my job, there was a coworker, Rob, who was just outright creepy. He'd use every excuse to come sit on my desk, he'd needle me about my personal life, and then there was the staring. This guy stared at me all the time. But he never did enough that I could do anything about it. Plus he's a senior employee and I'm barely two years in.

Which brings me to point two; I'm not really a people person. I've never been good at small talk and whenever my coworkers would make an effort to get to know me I balked. I can't talk about my personal life at work because it involves goblins and dwarves and just a completely unnecessary amount of glitter in my carpet. It's a friendly office and people were noticing. I was starting to lose ground and my boss was hinting about office dynamics and fitting in so I decided to kill two birds with one stone."

"So you made up a boyfriend?" Jareth asked arching a brow in interest.

Sarah nodded.

"I fucked up. I know  _I know_. But I thought, this will get Rob off my back and give me something to talk about with my coworkers without giving too much away. It also seemed like a good way to get out of after-work drinks or office parties or at least it was. Apparently there are only so many times you can duck out of office events before it becomes mandatory. That time is now, the company New Year's Eve party. But as a small reprieve, there probably won't be that many people there because the New Year's Eve party is never as popular as the holiday party and you really only need to attend one. However, since I've mentioned the fictitious boyfriend and I having a date night as my first excuse to get out of it, I'm now required to bring him along.

She was out of breath by the time she finished speaking. Sarah also found she couldn't even look at him.

"Sarah," he lifted a gloved finger to her chin, "yes. I will help you. Just tell me where."

Sarah licked her lips in apprehension. She knew he'd say yes, but she never dreamed he'd make this easy on her.

"It's on Saturday at 7. I think it's probably best if you just meet me here and then we can go over together. It's supposed to be formal-ish so maybe dress up? But in a human manner please, I don't need to explain the pants situation on top of everything else."

Jareth smirked slightly. "As you wish my dear," and then stepped backwards through the mirror.

"I don't wish Jareth," Sarah replied softly after him.

* * *

Sarah paced back and forth in front of her mirror. She'd been ready for at least an hour and had so many knots in her stomach that it felt like she was suffocating. This was going to be complicated. She trusted Jareth to hold a human façade, she'd seem him do it before, she just wasn't sure if they could pull off 'happy couple'. She needed this job, as much as the office politics annoyed her. Yes this wasn't the dream but it was a start. Though really, how many other 26 year olds were living their dreams?

She hadn't been completely honest with Jareth when she asked him to come tonight. It wasn't just about needing someone to pose as her boyfriend, she specifically needed him. Though with any luck Jareth would never figure out why.  _Yeah_ , she thought,  _this was going to be complicated_.

There was a small breeze behind her and Sarah knew he was here. She turned to greet him and found herself quite startled.

She'd seen him with a human disguise before, but this was different. He was dressed completely in black, down to the patent on his leather shoes. The collared shirt was open at the top couple of buttons and the cuffs were rolled up. His hair has been tamed and pulled back into a short ponytail. His face seemed more…human. It still looked like him, but the edges had been blunted. His eyes, normally piercing in their strangeness, were the same ice blue now and while Sarah still had a difficult time looking away from them, the effect was very different.

"Jareth, what did you do?" She hadn't meant it to come out quite like that, but she was still a bit in shock.

Jareth looked surprised for a moment.

"You asked me to dress appropriately, I obliged."

"Yeah but," Sarah shook her head. "No, you know what, this is fine. This is great."

"Do you not like it?" Jareth asked with a raised brow.

"No." Sarah stated simply. "I mean, you look nice, but you don't look like you."

Jareth smiled, he waved his hand once over his eyes and they returned to normal. Or the normal Sarah was used to at least. With his eyes back to normal, Sarah let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. So much of Jareth was in his eyes. She liked having that. She liked them how they were.

"How about this? Is that better?"

Sarah returned the smile. "Yes."

Jareth nodded. "You, however, look stunning. No changes needed."

Sarah had curled her long dark hair, leaving it loose and parting it to one side so it tumbled over her shoulder. She was wearing her little red dress, the black dress' flashier cousin. It was a simple straight cut, but it fit her like a glove and she looked amazing in it.

"Yeah well, I'm hoping to make this count for the next year's worth of company events at least."

Jareth smiled and held out his arm.

"Shall we?"

Sarah nodded and looped her arm through his.

"Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

Sarah had quickly briefed Jareth on the car ride over about what to do and what absolutely to not do at the party. Chief among them being, no tricking any of her coworkers into a hellish dreamspun state, no vague hints about magic, and no matter what anyone says about him to please, just go with it.

Jareth agreed to all her terms although Sarah noticed he seemed a bit too compliant. He wasn't teasing her or trying to make her uncomfortable in any way. He was on his best behavior, which made Sarah nervous. She had found herself in a situation that any which way you sliced it, ended with her owing Jareth. He should be jumping for joy and sending a goblin parade through her living room. Instead he was being the perfect gentleman.

The party was being held at her office building because, why spring for a fancy event hall when you can just crepe paper the copier. This made Sarah feel a bit better because at least she knew where all the exits were.

They arrived half an hour after the party started. Just enough time to be fashionably late, but scheduled enough that they could duck out just after midnight without being rude.

Wringing her hands, they stepped onto the elevator. There was no going back now. Jareth leaned in and took her hand in his. She looked over at him and he gave her the barest hint of a smile. God help her she was actually comforted by him being there. She let out a breath and the doors opened.

"Thank you," she whispered to him as they stepped into the party. He squeezed her hand once in reply.

"There you are Sarah!" Emily, their receptionist ran over to them. "We've all been wondering if you were actually going to show up!"

Emily's eyes raked over Jareth in approval. "So this must be the elusive boyfriend."

Jareth smiled and extended his hand. "Jared Smith, a pleasure to meet you."

Emily giggled shaking Jareth's hand. "I'm Emily Peters, admin assistant. You were right Sarah, he is quite handsome."

Sarah blushed and avoided Jareth's eyes. "Thanks Emily."

Sarah and Jareth followed Emily into the bullpen where the rest of her office was congregated. It wasn't a large group, only about twenty or so people, but unfortunately it was nearly everyone Sarah worked with, save her boss and Rob oddly enough.

"Hey Emily, have you seen Rob or Mr. Andrews?"

Emily gestured towards the break room. "Rob's in there with Sophia getting a drink and Mr. Andrews just went into his office to take a call. You should grab some punch or something. Loosen up a bit!"

"Okay thanks, maybe I will," she patted Jareth's arm "wait here. You want anything?"

"No punch for me thank you," said Jareth wrinkling his nose "but I'll have a glass of scotch if it's available, red wine if it is not."

Sarah smiled shaking her head. "Got it."

She left Jareth to make small talk with some of her coworkers. With any luck he'd be able to charm his way into some social ground for her. For all his faults, he could be very charming when he needed to be.

Entering the break room she saw Rob smiling and chatting with her coworker Sophia, who was definitely married, and definitely did not seem to mind a little mutual flirting.

Sarah cleared her throat gently and walked toward the drink table. Luckily they did indeed have whiskey. Though probably not the quality Jareth was used to. Sarah was about to make herself a gin and tonic when she felt Rob's hand on her shoulder.

"Why Miss Williams, you do make quite the pretty picture this evening," he breathed against her neck.

Sarah shrugged Rob's hand off her shoulder. "Thanks Rob. Just grabbing a drink for Jared and I," she said as cheerfully as she could manage.

Rob raised his eyebrows. "You mean he exists? This Jared character is here in the flesh?"

Sarah smiled brightly. "Yep! I just left him chatting with the marketing team," Sarah replied ignoring his subtle dig. She noticed that Sophia had vanished.

"Well, now I have to meet the man who could swoop stony Sarah Williams off her feet." Rob gently placed a hand on her back and Sarah spun around to face him.

"I'm not stony Rob," Sarah grabbed hers and Jareth's drink off the table. "Let me by please."

Rob blocked her as she tried to maneuver around him. "What's your rush? You can't even chat with me for a few minutes?"

Sarah rolled her eyes slightly. "Well, isn't Sophia looking for you?"

"You know Sophia is married Sarah don't you?" He brushed her hair off her shoulder and Sarah took a step back, pressed up against the drink table.

"Yes I know she's married – do you? I'm also taken. As has been discussed."

"I still see no evidence of any Jared," Rob smiled and blocked Sarah as she tried to move past him again.

"Okay Rob," Sarah said tersely. "I'm really done with this, I have to be getting back."

There was a knock on the break room doorframe and Sarah gratefully looked up to see Jareth languidly leaning against the wall.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," he drawled.

Sarah smiled and pushed a distracted Rob out of her way. "Not at all, I was just trying to bring you your drink, they did have whiskey."

Jareth took the drink from Sarah's hand and tipped it to Rob.

"You must be Rob, Sarah has mentioned you a fair few times."

Rob nodded to him. "Yeah she's always talking about you as well. But it's good to finally meet you. Man, you're exactly how she described."

Sarah's face grew hot. This was not good. Not good at all.

"Hmm?" Jareth said interestedly. "Yes, well Sarah has always been excellent at giving great detail to her stories."

Sarah breathed out slightly. He hadn't taken the bait. Jareth put his free hand on her shoulder.

"Speaking of, darling, a few of your coworkers have been asking about how we met and such and I thought you would like to be there to tell the story yourself."

"Yes absolutely," Sarah flashed a humourless smile at Rob. "Coming Rob?"

"Wouldn't miss it," he replied.

"You were correct in your assessment of that man. He is an absolute bog dweller," Jareth whispered into her ear.

Sarah smiled slightly. "What did I tell you? At least he seemed to back off considerably as soon as he realized you were here."

Jareth smirked. "Yes, though I have no doubt that you could have handled him expertly, should you have so chosen to."

"Yeah well, coulda woulda shoulda."

"Sarah!" Emily waved her over, "I was just asking Jared about how you two met. You've never said!"

Sarah gave her best movie star smile and patted Jareth's chest affectionately.

"It's a good story, I'll tell you that much. It was years ago, I was picking my younger brother up from an event, and Jared happened to be hosting. He tricked me into staying for a dance –"

"Actually darling," Jareth intoned, "I think you'll find you were quite willing to stay."

Sarah shot him a look.

"Yeah well, as soon as I realized I bolted. Grabbed my brother and never looked back."

"You didn't stay and dance with him?" Emily replied confused.

"No, I had a responsibility to get my brother. It wasn't until later after we reconnected over some mutual…friends, that Jared and I finally reached where we are now."

"But you knew from the beginning that you loved her – right Jared?" Rob asked.

"Yes, he definitely did," Sarah stated confidently.

"Actually," Jareth looked at her interested. "That's not quite true."

"What?" Sarah was caught off guard.

"Oh now I'm curious," Sophia laughed.

"It wasn't until years later, that I knew anything at all in regards to Sarah. The first time I met her, I found her to be the most infuriating, stubborn and single minded person I had ever met. Of course, this is still true," there were appreciative chuckles from the crowd. Sarah looked on interested to see where he was going with this.

"But I was curious about her. I wanted to know why such a girl vexed me so. The remarkable thing about Sarah, is there is no other woman like her, nor ever will there be. She is passionate and dedicated to a fault. She's incredibly loyal and believes not only in herself, but others. Now, this has sometimes ended with her always thinking she is right, when she is mostly clearly not," Jareth shot a smile to Sarah at this, "but there is no one else as challenging or as captivating as her. I've watched her turn the world with a smile and bring it crashing down when angry. My pride kept it so that I could never tell her how much I cared for her, but she figured it out on her own anyways. It was … more important that I stay in her life as only an occasional…friend than to risk losing her by confessing. I hope she knew, however, that there was nothing I would not have done for her, there is still nothing. She is both the end and the beginning of every story that has ever mattered."

Sarah stared at him, completely paralyzed. This was not what they had discussed, not what they had discussed at all. She felt sick to her stomach. She had made a terrible mistake.

_Why do I keep doing this?_  She asked herself. Jareth had said it first - she was indeed cruel.

"Wow, that's quite the story." Emily said somewhat breathlessly.

"Sarah you're lucky, I'd give anything for my husband to talk about me like that!" Sophia giggled.

Rob appeared very cowed.

"I'm going to get Mr. Andrews," he said dejectedly. "It's almost midnight and I heard he brought champagne."

"Sarah," Carol from acquisitions nudged her "you said tall, blonde, and English – you didn't mention that he was disgustingly charming."

Sarah laughed as best she could.

"Yeah well, I forget sometimes."

Just then Mr. Andrews came out of his office, carrying a bottle of champagne.

"It's eight minutes to midnight everyone! Someone turn on the ball drop, I don't want to miss the countdown. Let's all go around and say our resolutions for next year."

Everyone muttered statements about losing weight, reading more, or calling their families.

"What is a resolution in this context?" Jareth asked Sarah.

"Oh, it just means the thing you want to change for the coming year. People just use it to help improve themselves."

"Do you not have New Year's resolutions in England?" Mr. Andrews inquired.

"Where I come from, the years seem to slip by too quickly to keep track of in such a way."

Sarah laughed nervously.

"Well I know my resolution is to pick my battles more. Fight with those that need fighting with, and let go things that don't matter."

"That sounds like a good resolution to me my love."

She smiled sideways at him.

"Yeah, figured you'd like that one."

"Jared what about you?" Mr. Andrews prodded.

"I think, this year I'd like to make some changes to my home. Possibly get the cleaners in more," Jareth said winking at Sarah.

She shot him a glare.

"The cleaners huh?"

"Yes," Jareth continued, "I'd also like to spend more time with Sarah, but I've been saying that every year now."

Jareth smiled, linking his hand with hers.  _There was that guilt again_ , Sarah thought. She should never have brought him tonight; this was a hell of a mistake.  _Next year I'm going to be smarter about this sort of thing_ , she silently vowed.

"Alright the ball's about to drop people!" Emily shouted.

Everyone grabbed a glass of champagne and started the count down.

10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4

"Happy New Year Sarah," Jareth whispered in her ear.

3 – 2 – 1

"Happy New Year Jareth," Sarah said softly back.

He leaned in and kissed her as everyone cheered welcoming the year. For a moment, Sarah forgot that they were standing in the middle of her office building, surrounded by people she didn't much like, and a party she didn't want to be at. She kissed him back sadly, with the understanding that she absolutely could not kiss him again. She knew enough about herself to know that she liked kissing him, but it wasn't enough. Not for either of them. So she couldn't kiss him again. It wouldn't be fair. But she let herself enjoy this one last kiss. He always did kiss her like it would be their last.

* * *

Sarah was waiting downstairs by the elevator for Jareth to get their coats. The rest of the party had gone by smoothly, if a bit awkwardly. Try as she might, she was never going to be friends with these people. But she supposed that was alright. At least they had seen her and Jareth, so they couldn't claim she never came to these things. Sarah figured she might make a solo appearance at a couple of the after work events sporadically through the year, but she was done involving Jareth.

"Hey, you have a ride home?" Rob came up and jingled a pair of keys at her.

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "Jared's just grabbing our coats, but my car is here."

Rob walked over and nudged her playfully on the shoulder.

"You know, I thought I might have had a shot with you."

"You didn't," Sarah responded curtly.

"Yeah, I know that now. After hearing the way he talks about you, and watching you kiss him? That guy really does love you Sarah. I can tell that you really love him back. Must be nice."

There was a terrible lump in her throat and Sarah felt very certain that if she said anything at all it might fall out. So she just nodded as he wished her happy New Year and left for his car.

"I can't believe I did that," Sarah muttered quietly out loud.

"Did what?" Jareth had appeared behind her with the coats. He offered it to her and she slid hers on.

"Nothing."

Sarah walked quickly to the car, just wanting this night to be over.

"Is this about what I said before?"

Sarah felt her breath catch but she didn't stop walking.

"No, I knew you were just playing it up for my benefit. It seemed to scare Rob off pretty good."

"Sarah."

She stopped and turned to face him. He'd changed his look again. He was still wearing the same clothes, but his hair and face were back to their normal otherworldly look.

"What would you like Sarah?" he stepped close and placed a gloved finger under her chin.

"I'd like to go home now," she said softly. It was true, she just wanted to be home.

He nodded and followed her into the car. They drove in silence for a few minutes until Sarah spoke again.

"I'm sorry about what happened tonight, I didn't mean for any of this."

"I know," responded Jareth. "Though I did like how apparently, you've been speaking about me to your coworkers for months now."

"Well yeah, I told you I had been talking about the boyfriend."

"No, not the boyfriend. Me. Tall with blonde hair? I'm not aware you have any other such gentlemen in your life. Much less with an accent, though this English thing is complete nonsense. We sound nothing like the isles."

Sarah felt her face grow hot.

"Okay, I was really hoping you wouldn't notice that. But it's not what you think. You're just a big part of my life, and when I found myself describing you and some of the things we've done together because as it happens, you're the male based life form that I spend the most time with. Unfortunately for everyone's collective sanity you're a big part of my life now and so when I think about a friend I tend to think about you."

Jareth didn't say anything and Sarah was almost too afraid to look at him. Not in the least because she was worried if she did she might crash the damn car.

"Okay you're going to need to say something," Sarah finally spoke up. "Because in case you haven't noticed I'm driving a two ton metal machine here and you're stressing me the hell out."

"I did mean it," Jareth replied evenly.

_Fuck it._  Sarah thought and pulled over to the side of the road. Driving was definitely not going to be happening.

"Yeah, I know you meant it," She answered. "I just…I'm sorry. This was all my mess and you stepped into it and I somehow made it even worse."

There was that lump again struggling to come out.

"What do you want Sarah?"

"I don't know," she choked out.

"Yes I thought as much, but I'm afraid I'll have to break my resolution early and take my leave for now," Jareth said simply. "I have to get back, and I think it would be best if I left you alone for a little while."

Sarah bit her lip and nodded.

"Thank you for coming tonight Jareth. I'm…sorry."

"Happy New Year Sarah," and with that, he disappeared from her car. Leaving only glitter, the remnants of his magic behind.

The lump escaped and Sarah pressed her head to the steering wheel and cried.


End file.
